Methods and systems for associating social media to wireless indentifiers

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems for associating or accessing one or more social media profiles are disclosed herein. The system may include one or more unconnected (Wireless Enabled Devices) WEDs which may broadcast or detect a beacon message, where the beacon message may include the MAC address or other wireless identifier of the broadcasting WED (Wireless Enabled Device). The detecting WED may send a query to an API for accessing or retrieving one or more social media profiles that may be associated with the detected MAC address. The API may check the detected MAC address against a plurality of MAC addresses previously registered in a registry. The API may retrieve links stored in the registry and associated with the registered MAC address. The API may send these links to the detecting WED which may use the links to automatically retrieve one or more social media profiles from third-party providers.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/617,983, entitled “Methods and Systems for AssociatingSocial Media to Wireless Identifiers”, filed on Feb. 10, 2015 whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.61/938,836, entitled “Methods and Systems for Associating Social Mediato Device Identifiers,” filed Feb. 12, 2014, each of the precedingidentified applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

International Patent Application No. PCT/US2014/043573, entitled“Wireless Network and Mac Address Device Detection System and Methods,”filed at the U.S. PCT Receiving Office on Jun. 23, 2014, claims priorityto U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/838,110, entitled“Wireless Network and Mac Address Device Detection System and Methods,”filed Jun. 21, 2013, each of which are incorporated by reference hereinin their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates in general to wireless networks, and morespecifically to methods and systems for associating wireless identifiersto social media profiles.

BACKGROUND

Social media networks allow the sharing of social media profiles andpersonal information through the web. However, sharing of social mediaprofiles often require users to manually submit their credentials intorespective social networks, followed by a series of steps or actionsbefore sharing of media profiles can take place.

What is needed is a system or method that may allow a more dynamic andefficient sharing of personal media profiles.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods for associating social media profiles with wirelessidentifiers are disclosed herein. Social media profiles may includeFacebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Google+, and Twitter, among others.Wireless identifiers may include MAC addresses, service set identifiers(SSIDs), radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, Bluetoothaddresses, near field communication (NFC) tags, and hashtag dongle IDs,among others.

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method comprises receiving, bya registration computer, from a first wireless device a first wirelessidentifier identifying the first wireless device; querying, by thecomputer, a datastore storing one or more records of one or morewireless devices, wherein each respective record is associated with eachrespective wireless device, and wherein each respective record containsone or more wireless identifiers; generating, by the computer, a recordof the first wireless device in response to determining the firstwireless identifier is a new identifier; receiving, by the computer,from the first wireless device a link configured to access a socialmedia server; storing, by the computer, the link into the record of thefirst wireless device; receiving, by the computer, from a secondwireless device a query requesting one or more links associated with thefirst wireless identifier; querying, by the computer, the datastoreaccording to the query in response to receiving the query from thesecond wireless device; and transmitting, by the computer, to the secondwireless device the link stored in the record of the first wirelessdevice in response to identifying the record of the first wirelessdevice.

Additional features and advantages can become apparent from the detaileddescriptions which follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure can be better understood by referring to thefollowing figures. The components in the figures are not necessarily toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles ofthe disclosure. In the figures, reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the different views.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a wireless ID system forassociating MAC addresses or other wireless identifier with social mediaprofiles and other personal information.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a process for the registration andassociation of MAC addresses or other wireless identifier in a wirelessID system.

FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of a process for accessing social mediaprofiles associated with MAC addresses or other wireless identifier in awireless ID system.

FIG. 4 shows exemplary application of a wireless ID system, where theMAC address or other wireless identifier of an electronic bracelet canbe associated with social media profiles.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary application of a wireless ID system,where the MAC address or other wireless identifier of a mobile devicecan be used for retrieving or accessing social media profiles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is here described in detail with reference toembodiments illustrated in the drawings, which form a part here. Otherembodiments may be used and/or other changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Theillustrative embodiments described in the detailed description are notmeant to be limiting of the subject matter presented here.

As used here, the following terms may have the following definitions:

“Registry” refers to any component in a system suitable for storing atleast one type of information about one or more other components of thesystem and/or one or more users of the system.

“Wireless Enabled Device”, or “WED” refers to any electronic devicecapable to communicate using one or more suitable wireless technologies.

“Connected WED” refers to a WED suitability connected to an informationstring server and API.

“Unconnected WED” refers to a WED without a suitable connection to aninformation string server and API.

“Beacon Message” refers a signal transmitted or received by anunconnected WED or connected WED, where this signal may contain awireless identifier or other network information string.

User” refers to an individual who may operate, use, or have access tothe configuration or functioning of the different elements or componentsof a wireless ID system.

The disclosed methods and systems may allow the dynamic and automaticretrieval, sharing or access of social media profiles by detecting theMAC address or other wireless identifier of a connected or unconnectedwireless enable device (WED).

Although the embodiments described herein make reference to Wi-Fi(802.11) communication protocols and information exchanges, it should beappreciated that in other embodiments any wireless communicationtechnology (i.e., hardware, software, and protocols) may be implemented.Suitable WED hardware may be able to implemented or otherwise use awireless signal or technology of any type, such as Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi,WiMax, SuperWiFi, LTE systems, LTE Direct, Wi-Fi Direct, or any otherwireless signal or technology. Wireless technologies involved in thisapplications may be any technology that may wirelessly transmit namestrings and wirelessly transmit wireless IDs of any kind (e.g., LTEDirect Expressions and LTE Hardware ID, Universal Unique Identifier(UUID), SSID and MAC). A person having ordinary skill in the art wouldappreciate that the terms SSID and Mac, as used herein, may beunderstood as including other wireless technologies (e.g., Bluetooth®names, LTE-Direct Expressions, etc).

According to an embodiment, a wireless ID system may include one or moreunconnected or connected WEDs that may detect or broadcast a beaconmessage, where this beacon message may include a wireless identifier; anapplication programming interface (API) operatively coupled to andexecuted by connected or unconnected WEDs or registry device; and aregistry which may include a wireless name system (WNS) for storingwireless identifiers, a wireless name associator (WNA) for storinglinks, and a log datastore for storing API logs. Links stored in WNA maybe used for accessing or retrieving one or more social media profilesfrom one or more third-party service providers, where the social mediaprofiles may be associated with the WED transmitting the wirelessidentifier.

In one embodiment, a registration process of one or more wirelessidentifiers in a wireless ID system may include the steps ofautomatically retrieving the MAC address or other wireless identifierfrom a connected or unconnected WED using a registration application;registering the MAC address or other wireless identifier in the WNS ofthe registry; and associating the registered MAC address or wirelessidentifier with one or more links stored in the WNA of the registry,where these links may be used for automatic access or retrieval of oneor more social media profiles from third-party providers.

In another embodiment, a process for accessing or retrieving one or moresocial media profiles may include the steps of detecting a beaconmessage broadcast by a connected or unconnected WED, where the beaconmessage may include the MAC address or other wireless identifier of thebroadcasting WED; checking the detected MAC address or wirelessidentifier in the WNS of the registry; registering the detected MACaddress or wireless identifier in case it was not previously registered;and accessing social media profiles from third-party providers using thelinks stored in the WNA of the registry, where these links may beassociated with the registered MAC address or other wireless identifierof the broadcasting WED.

In a further embodiment, a wireless ID system may be used for retrievingor accessing one or more social media profiles using the MAC address orother wireless identifier broadcast from an electronic bracelet.

Yet in another embodiment, a wireless ID system may be used forretrieving or accessing one or more social media profiles when aconnected or unconnected WED is within an specific area or enters astore. According to some aspects of this embodiment, the retrievedsocial media profiles can be displayed in a monitor inside the store. Inaddition, advertisements, sale offers, coupons or other relatedinformation can be automatically provided to the connected orunconnected WED when it enters the store.

In an even further embodiment, a wireless ID system may be used forretrieving or accessing one or more social media profiles associatedwith RFID or NFC tags embedded in a key.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless ID system 100 for associatingMAC addresses or other wireless identifiers with social media profilesand other personal information, according to an embodiment.

System 100 may include a registry 102; an application programinginterface API 104; a least one connected WED 106 operatively coupledwith API 104; and one or more connected or unconnected WEDs 108operatively coupled with connected WED 106 or API 104.

Connected WED 106 may include a transceiver, a memory, a display, acommunication application, a string utilization application, and aprocessor. By a way of illustration and not by way of limitation,connected WED 106 may include cell phones, smartphones, access points,routers, networking switches, tablet computers, desktop computers, PDAs,banking terminals, cash register and the like. The communicationapplication may provide instructions to the processor to enableconnected WED 106 to interact with one or more unconnected WEDs 108, orother connected WEDs 106. Connected WED 106 may be operatively coupledwith API 104 and registry 102 through suitable network connections thatmay include intranets, internet, local area networks (LAN), the cloud,virtual private networks (VPN), wireless area networks (WAN) and theinternet among others.

Similarly, connected or unconnected WED 108 may include a transceiver, amemory, a processor, a communication application, a display, and astring utilization application. By a way of illustration and not by wayof limitation, connected or unconnected WED 108 may include smartphones,laptop computers, tablet computers, and PDAs, among others. In otherembodiments, connected or unconnected WED 108 may include homeappliances, electronic toys, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi enabled cloth or shoeapparel, RFID cards, NFC enabled devices, electronic bracelets,Bluetooth trackers, vending machines, Wi-Fi enabled cars, and the like.The communication application may provide instructions to the processorto at least enable connected or unconnected WED 108 to transmit a beaconmessage 110.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, beacon message 110 maytransmit a wireless identifier which may include the MAC address orother wireless identifier of unconnected or connected WED 108. The MACaddress of connected or unconnected WED 108 can be registered or storedin WNS 112, where registered or stored MAC addresses can be associatedwith social media profiles of users of system 100. More specifically,the MAC address of WED 108 registered in WNS 112 may be associated withlinks stored in WNA 114, where these links may provide access to socialmedia profiles. Social media profiles may include Facebook, LinkedIn,Myspace, Google+, and Twitter, among others. Third-party providers (notshown in FIG. 1) of social media profiles may be operatively connectedto WEDs 106, 108 through suitable network connections that may includeintranets, internet, local area networks (LAN), the cloud, virtualprivate networks (VPN) , wireless area networks (WAN) and the internetamong others. Third-party providers may also include companies who mayshare advertisements or other content related to the products orservices that they offer.

Examples of WNS 112 and WNA 114 may include MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite,Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, Oracle, SAP, dBASE, FoxPro, IBMDB2, LibreOffice Base, FileMaker Pro and/or any other type of databasethat may organize collections of data. Both, WNS 112 and WNA 114, can bepart of a ownership module of registry 102 which can be accessed ormanaged by a user of system 100.

MAC addresses registered in WNS 112 may also be associated with personalinformation of users, where this personal information may be stored inWNA 114. Personal information may include name, phone number, email,civilstatus, mailing address, and occupation, among others. In addition,MAC addresses registered in WNS 112 may be associated with other contentstored in WNS 112 such as pictures, videos, announcements, menus, andnews alerts, among others.

The wireless identifier transmitted in beacon message 110 may alsoinclude the SSID and/or MAC address of connected or unconnected WEDs108, or a combination thereof, where the SSID and/or MAC address, orcombination thereof, may be registered in WNS 112 and associated withlinks stored in WNA 114, where these links may be used for accessingsocial media profiles of users.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, users of system 100 maydownload a registration application from API 104 to connected orunconnected WED 108, where this registration application can be used forautomatically retrieving the MAC address or other wireless identifier ofconnected or unconnected WED 108 and registering said MAC address in WNS112. The user of WED 108 may consequently have the option of associatingthe registered MAC address with links stored in WNA 114, where theselinks may allow the automatic retrieval or access of social mediaprofiles from third-party providers. In another embodiment, web-based ormobile applications of third-party providers, i.e. Facebook or LinkedIn,may download the MAC address of connected or unconnected WED 108 andregister said MAC address in WNS 112. Yet in another embodiment, usersof system 100 may have the option of selecting a “do not track” optionwhen registering MAC addresses or other wireless identifier, where this“do not track” option may prevent the association of social mediaprofiles or other content with registered MAC addresses or otherwireless identifier.

Connected WED 106 may receive or detect one or more beacon messages 110broadcast from one or more connected or unconnected WEDs 108 or anotherconnected WED (not shown), where beacon message 110 may include the MACaddress or other wireless identifier of WED 108. Connected WED 106 maysend a query to API 104 for retrieving social media profiles associatedwith the detected MAC address of WED 108. API 104 may check the detectedMAC address against a list of MAC addresses previously registered in WNS112. If the detected MAC address was previously registered in WNS 112,then API 104 may check for links in WNA 114 associated with the detectedMAC address of connected or unconnected WED 108. These links may provideautomatic access to one or more social media profiles associated withMAC address of WED 108. API 104 may send these links to connected WED106 for direct and automatic access to corresponding social mediaprofiles. Using the provided links, connected WED 106 may directlyretrieve or access social media profiles from the third-party providers,where these social media profiles may be associated with the detectedMAC address of connected or unconnected WED 108.

API 104 may be implemented though suitable computing equipment runninghigh-volume programming languages for processing numerous queries at thesame time. By a way of illustration and not by way of limitation,high-volume programming languages may include Erland and Cassandra,among others.

Information about queries for the registration of MAC addresses and theretrieval of social media profiles may be stored in the form of API logsin a log datastore 116. This log datastore 116 may be included inregistry 102, but may not be part of the ownership module, meaning thatthe data logged in log datastore 116 may not be directly controlled by auser of system 100. In general, the utilization of API logs in logdatastore 116 may be managed by API 104 according to the application.

In other embodiments, system 100 may be capable of associating socialmedia profiles with other wireless identifiers such as RFID tags, NFCtags, Bluetooth network addresses, and hashtag dongle IDs, where thesewireless identifiers can be used in WEDs 106 and/or WEDs 108, and may beregistered in WNS 112 of registry 102.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process 200 for the registration andassociation of MAC addresses or other wireless identifier in a wirelessID system, according to an embodiment.

Process 200 may begin when the MAC address of a connected or unconnectedWED may be retrieved, at step 202. According to some aspects of thisembodiment, one or more connected or unconnected WEDs may download aregistration application from the registry of the wireless ID system.More specifically, users of connected or unconnected WEDs may connect toan API executed by a device servicing downloads and execution of theAPI; the WED may download the registration application from theregistry, where this registration application may be installed in theconnected or unconnected WED to automatically retrieve the MAC addressor other wireless identifier. For example, the connected or unconnectedWED may be a smartphone which may use the internet to connect to the APIand download/install the registration application, where thisregistration application may automatically retrieve the MAC address ofthe smartphone. In other embodiments, depending of the type of connectedor unconnected WED and operation, the registration application mayretrieve other wireless identifiers such as RFID tags, NFC tags, SSIDs,Bluetooth addresses, and hashtag dongle IDs, among others.

At step 204, the registration application may send the MAC address orother wireless identifier of the connected or unconnected WED to the APIwhich may check if the retrieved MAC address is registered in the WNS ofthe registry. If the retrieved MAC address was not previously registeredin the WNS, API may proceed to register the MAC address in the WNS. Inother embodiments, the API may register other wireless identifiers suchas RFID tags, NFC tags, SSIDs, Bluetooth addresses, and hashtag dongleIDs, among others. In some implementations, during registration, theregistry device executing the API or the database hosting the WNS maygenerate a database record of the wireless identifier in the WNS. TheWNS may be logically organized using any schema capable of storing,querying, and retrieving the registered wireless identifiers andassociated links.

Subsequently, at step 206, the API may associate the registered MACaddress or other wireless identifier with links that may be stored inthe WNA of the register. These links may provide direct and automaticaccess to social media profiles which may include Facebook, LinkedIn,Myspace, Google+, and Twitter, among others. API may select which linksor social media profiles to be associated with the registered MACaddress depending on users' requirements. In another embodiment, the APImay select a “do not track” option which may prevent the registered MACaddress or other wireless identifier from being associated to socialmedia profiles, or to restrict the availability of social media profilesto certain users or WEDs associated with registered MAC addresses orother wireless identifiers.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a process 300 for accessing social mediaprofiles associated with MAC addresses or other wireless identifiers ina wireless ID system, according to an embodiment.

Process 300 may start when at least one connected WED, operativelycoupled with the API and registry of the wireless ID system, may detectone or more beacon messages broadcast by one or more connected orunconnected WEDs, at step 302. For the purpose of illustrating thisembodiment, the device which detects the beacon message may be calleddetecting WED, while the device which transmits the beacon message maybe called broadcasting WED. This beacon message may include the MACaddress of the broadcasting WED. In other embodiments, the beaconmessage may include other network or wireless identifiers such as RFIDtags, NFC tags, SSIDs, Bluetooth addresses, and hashtag dongle IDs,among others.

The detecting WED may send a query to the API for retrieving socialmedia profiles that may be associated with the detected MAC address.Social media profiles may include Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Google+,and Twitter, among others. The query sent to the API may include thedetected MAC address or other wireless identifier, according to the typeand application of the broadcasting WED. The API may check the detectedMAC address or other wireless identifier of the broadcasting WED in theWNS of the registry, at step 304.

The API may verify if the detected MAC address or other wirelessidentifier is registered in the WNS of the registry, at step 306. If thedetected MAC address is not registered in the WNS, then API may requestthe registration of the detected MAC address, at step 308. In this case,the broadcasting WED may establish a direct communication with the APIand registry to download and install a registration application that mayallow the automatic retrieval of the MAC address or other wirelessidentifier. The registration process may include storing the MAC addressin the WNS of the registry, and associating the registered MAC addresswith links stored in the WNA, where these links may be used forautomatically accessing one or more social media profiles. In anotherembodiment, the detecting WED may request the registration of the MACaddress of the broadcasting WED.

Process 300 may repeat steps 302, 304, 306 as illustrated in FIG. 3,until the detected MAC address or wireless identifier of thebroadcasting WED may be registered in the WNS.

If the detected MAC address or other wireless identifier is registeredin the WNS of the registry, at step 306, then process 300 may continuewith the API accessing or retrieving one or more links associated withthe detected MAC address or wireless identifier, at step 310. Morespecifically, the API may look for links stored in the WNA of theregister, where these links may be associated with the MAC addressregistered in the WNA. The API may send these links to the detecting WEDwhich may use the links to connect to third-party providers andautomatically access one or more social media profiles associated to thedetected MAC address.

In another embodiment, the API may send notifications or may performfurther actions after checking the detected MAC address in the registry.For example, the API may send messages, notifications, emails,suggestions and the like, to broadcasting or detecting WEDs regardingthe registration status of detected MAC addresses or other wirelessidentifiers, and/or their associations with social media profiles.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary application of a wireless ID system 400, wherethe MAC address or other wireless identifier of an electronic braceletcan be associated with one or more social media profiles, according toan embodiment.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, a presenter 402 may bewearing an electronic bracelet 404 for transmitting a wirelessidentifier that may allow one or more listeners 406 to directly accessone or more social media profiles of presenter 402. Presenter 402 may bean individual in a business or technology conference, a salespresentation, a product show, an academic lecture, a political meeting,and the like, where presenter 402 may want to share his or her socialmedia profiles to respective listeners 406 or audience. Social mediaprofiles may include Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Google+, and Twitter,among others.

Electronic bracelet 404 may be a device operable with one or morecommunication technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, LTE direct,and RFID, among others. Electronic bracelet 404 may transmit a beaconmessage 408 to one or more mobile devices 410 being used by listeners406. Mobile devices 410 may include smartphones, tablet computers,laptop computers, and PDAs, among others. Mobile device 410 may beoperatively coupled with API 412 and one or more third-party providers424 through an internet connection 414. Beacon message 408 may includeone or more wireless identifiers that may be unique for electronicbracelet 404, where these wireless identifiers may include MACaddresses, SSIDs, RFID tags, Bluetooth addresses, NFC tags, and hashtagdongle IDs, among others.

When mobile device 410 receives or detects beacon message 408, mobiledevice 410 may send a query to API 412 for retrieving or accessing oneor more social media profiles that may be associated with the uniquewireless identifier of electronic bracelet 404. API 412 may process thequery for the retrieval of social media profiles and may store query logfiles in the log datastore 418 of registry 416. API 412 may check thedetected wireless identifier of electronic bracelet 404 against aplurality of wireless identifiers previously registered in WNS 420 ofregistry 416. If the detected wireless identifier is registered in WNS420, then API 412 may retrieve links stored in WNA 422 of registry 416,where these links may be associated with the wireless identifier ofelectronic bracelet 404.

API 412 may send the links to mobile device 410 which may use them toautomatically access or retrieve one or more social media profiles 426from third-party providers 424, where the retrieved social mediaprofiles 426 may be associated to electronic bracelet 404 and mayprovide identifying information of presenter 402. As a way of example,identifying information disclosed in the social media profile 426 ofpresenter 402 may include name, company, education, professionalbackground and experience, or other information that may be relevant tothe topic or product being addressed by presenter 402.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary application of a wireless ID system 500, wherethe MAC address or other wireless identifier of a mobile device can beused for retrieving or accessing social media profiles, according to anembodiment.

According to some aspects of this embodiment, a client 502 may walk intoa store 504 holding a mobile device 506. As a way of example, store 504may be a music store, a clothing store, a supermarket, a video gamestore, an auto parts store, an athletic store, or any other commercialestablishment. Mobile device 506 may include smartphones, tabletcomputers, laptop computers, and PDAs, among others. Mobile device 506may broadcast a beacon message 508 that may be detected by a router 510inside store 504. Beacon message 508 may include one or more wirelessidentifiers that may uniquely identify mobile device 506. Wirelessidentifiers may include MAC addresses, SSIDs, RFID tags, Bluetoothaddresses, NFC tags, and hashtag dongle IDs, among others.

Router 510 may detect beacon message 508 and may request the retrievalof one or more social media profiles that may be associated with theunique wireless identifier transmitted by mobile device 506. Socialmedia profiles may include Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Google+, andTwitter, among others. Router 510 may be operatively coupled with API512 of the wireless ID system 500 through a suitable internet connection514. API 512 may receive the request for retrieval of social mediaprofiles based on the detected wireless identifier, and it may createquery log files that may be stored in log datastore 518 of registry 516.

API 512 may check the detected wireless identifier of mobile device 506against a plurality of wireless identifiers registered in WNS 520 ofregistry 516. If wireless identifier of mobile device 506 is registeredin WNS 520, API 512 may retrieve one or more links associated with thewireless identifier of mobile device 506. These links may be stored inWNA 522 and be used for automatically accessing or retrieving one ormore social media profiles of client 502.

API 512 may obtain the links from WNA 522 and may send them to router510 which may be operatively coupled with one or more third-partyproviders 524 of social media networks through internet connection 514.Using the links, router 510 may automatically access or retrieve one ormore social media profiles 526 from third-party providers 524, wheresocial media profiles 526 may be associated with the wireless identifierbroadcast by mobile device 506 or client 502.

Router 510 may be operatively coupled with a display 528 inside thestore 504, where display 528 may exhibit one or more social mediaprofiles 526 when client 502 holding mobile device 506 enters store 504or when client 502 is within an operable range of router 510. In otherwords, one or more social media profiles 526 may be shown on display 528when the wireless identifier of mobile device 506 can be detected byrouter 510. Display 528 may include a TV set, a computer monitor, aprojector screen, and the like. In one embodiment, display 528 in thewireless ID system 500 may show social media profiles 526 of frequent orVIP clients 502 visiting store 504.

In addition, by detecting the wireless identifier transmitted by mobiledevice 506 and checking this detected wireless identifier in registry516, router 510 may be capable of sending sale offers 530 to theidentified client 502 or mobile device 506. Router 510 may also sendcoupons or other information about products or services offered at store504. In one embodiment, information about sale offers 530, coupons, orother product information may be retrieved from WNA 522. Yet in anotherembodiment, information about sale offers 530, coupons, or other productinformation may be retrieved from a server (not shown in FIG. 5) insidestore 504 and operatively coupled with router 510.

Other embodiments of wireless ID systems may include RFID or NFC cardsthat can be used as keys in hotels, offices, houses, stores, buildings,and the like. RFID or NFC tags can be registered in the WNS of theregistry, and then, the registered RFID or NFC tags can be associatedwith links stored in the WNA of the registry. As in previousembodiments, these links can be used for automatically accessing orretrieving one or more social media profiles from third-party providers,where the retrieved social media profiles may be associated with theRFID or NFC tags registered in the WNS and embedded in the keys. Forexample, a device enabled with a RFID or NFC reader, such as asmartphone, may detect the RFID or NFC tags of a hotel key card, and mayaccess or retrieve social media profiles related to the owner of the keycard.

The exemplary embodiments can include one or more computer programs thatembody the functions described herein and illustrated in the appendeddiagrams. However, it should be apparent that there could be manydifferent ways of implementing aspects of the exemplary embodiments incomputer programming, and these aspects should not be construed aslimited to one set of computer instructions. Further, those skilled inthe art will appreciate that one or more acts described herein may beperformed by hardware, software, or a combination thereof, as may beembodied in one or more computing systems.

The functionality described herein can be implemented by numerousmodules or components that can perform one or multiple functions. Eachmodule or component can be executed by a computer, such as a server,having a non-transitory computer-readable medium and processor. In onealternative, multiple computers may be necessary to implement thefunctionality of one module or component.

Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description,discussions utilizing terms such as “detecting” or “connecting” or“sending” or “determining” or the like, can refer to the action andprocesses of a data processing system, or similar electronic device,that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the system's registers and memories intoother data similarly represented as physical quantities within thesystem's memories or registers or other such information storage,transmission or display devices.

The exemplary embodiments can relate to an apparatus for performing oneor more of the functions described herein. This apparatus may bespecially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise ageneral purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a machine (e.g. computer) readable storage medium, such as,but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, opticaldisks, CD-R OMs and magnetic-optical disks, read only memories (ROMs),random access memories (RAMs) erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs),electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), magnetic or opticalcards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronicinstructions, and each coupled to a bus.

The exemplary embodiments described herein are described as softwareexecuted on at least one server, though it is understood thatembodiments can be configured in other ways and retain functionality.The embodiments can be implemented on known devices such as a personalcomputer, a special purpose computer, cellular telephone, personaldigital assistant (“PDA”), a digital camera, a digital tablet, anelectronic gaming system, a programmed microprocessor or microcontrollerand peripheral integrated circuit element(s), and ASIC or otherintegrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronicor logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmablelogic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, or the like. In general, anydevice capable of implementing the processes described herein can beused to implement the systems and techniques according to thisinvention.

It is to be appreciated that the various components of the technologycan be located at distant portions of a distributed network and/or theInternet, or within a dedicated secure, unsecured and/or encryptedsystem. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the systemcan be combined into one or more devices or co-located on a particularnode of a distributed network, such as a telecommunications network. Aswill be appreciated from the description, and for reasons ofcomputational efficiency, the components of the system can be arrangedat any location within a distributed network without affecting theoperation of the system. Moreover, the components could be embedded in adedicated machine.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connectingthe elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof,or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable ofsupplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements.The term module as used herein can refer to any known or later developedhardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof that is capable ofperforming the functionality associated with that element. The termsdetermine, calculate and compute, and variations thereof, as used hereinare used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process,mathematical operation or technique.

The embodiments described above are intended to be exemplary. Oneskilled in the art recognizes that numerous alternative components andembodiments that may be substituted for the particular examplesdescribed herein and still fall within the scope of the invention.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed, other aspectsand embodiments are contemplated. The various aspects and embodimentsdisclosed are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to belimiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a registrationcomputer, as part of a registration process performed by theregistration computer, a first unique wireless identifier sent from thefirst wireless device to the registration computer as part of aregistration process, the first unique wireless identifier identifyingthe first wireless device; receiving as part of said registrationprocess, by the registration computer, a first link sent from the firstwireless device to the registration computer, said first link being alink configured to access a social media profile of a first user at asocial media server, the first user being a user of said first wirelessdevice; and storing, by the registration computer, the link in a recordcorresponding to the first wireless device, said record including thefirst unique wireless identifier and said first link.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: wherein the first unique wirelessidentifier is an address of the first wireless device.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: providing the user of the first wirelessdevice an option of associating the address of the first wireless devicewith the first link configured to access the social media profile of thefirst user at a social media server.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: providing the user of the first wireless device an option toselect a do not track option when registering the unique wirelessidentifier of the first device with the registration computer.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said first unique wireless identifier is oneof an RFID tag, NFC tag, Bluetooth network address or hashtag dongle ID.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing informationrelating to another social media profile in the record corresponding tothe first unique wireless identifier.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising: receiving, by the registration computer, from a secondwireless device which received the first unique wireless identifier in awireless signal broadcast by the first wireless device, a queryrequesting information associated with the first unique wirelessidentifier that was included in the received broadcast; querying, by theregistration computer, a data store including the record correspondingto the first unique wireless identifier; and transmitting, by theregistration computer, to the second wireless device information storedin the record corresponding to the first unique wireless device.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising: operating the second wirelessdevice to access or retrieve a social media profile corresponding to thefirst wireless device using at least the first link.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: operating the second wireless device todisplay content included in the retrieved social media profile on adisplay device of the second wireless device; and wherein the retrievedsocial media profile includes a name and professional background of thefirst user.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first wireless deviceis a wearable device that transmits a beacon signal communicating thefirst unique wireless identifier.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe first unique wireless identifier has been registered with theregistration computer and associated with at least one profile by thetime it transmits the beacon signal to the second wireless devicethereby enabling the second wireless device to retrieve profileinformation associated with the user of the first wireless device. 12.The method of claim 10, wherein the first wireless device is a bracelet.